Gilead is founded on the abuser’s lie: that while things are terrible they’re terrible for your own good. That one day you’ll thank your captor. That you’ll understand all of this was necessary.

Jezebels puts the lie to all of that. The episode focuses on Waterford taking Offred to Jezebels, a sex club where Gilead’s elite take their Handmaids. There’s no ceremony, no sanctimonious ‘celebration’ of fertility. Just rich, evil men doing what they want with their slaves.

To say this episode explodes the myth of Gilead would be a lie. After all, we all know that it’s a horrific dictatorship founded in debasement and cruelty. But what Jezebels does show is that even the twisted moral authority of Gilead knows they’ve built a lie. And worse, they don’t care.

That apathetic cruelty is the engine behind this episode. We see Waterford as he truly is; a capering sociopath who loves the control he has over Offred as much as his place in the government. His presence at Jezebels, and his knowledge of it, speaks to that.

What’s truly chilling is the way Jezebels is staffed. Waterford makes an offhand reference to how the women who work there couldn’t ‘assimilate’ into other elements of Gilead society. They’re described as former CEOs and lawyers, women who are ‘good conversation’ as well as sex objects.

The more you unpack this the more horrific it becomes. The inherent classism of assuming Handmaids and Marthas are somehow ‘lesser’ than the women at Jezebels is one level. Another is how the education level of the Jezebels workers is degraded as they’re forced to prostitute themselves until they die. Then there’s the way that Jezebels is essentially a zoo. Come see what women used to be like. Take a walk on the wild side.

It’s a grotesque idea that’s beautifully explored with the clear-eyed rage and intellect the show has demonstrated in every episode to date. It also leads to the return of Moira. It would have been so easy for the show to conjure fake drama by having Offred angry that her friend didn’t escape despite her sacrifice. The fact that their reunion was tearful, joyous and genuine was a massive relief. It also serves to demonstrate how ragged the edges of Gilead are. People wash up there, eke their lives out in ways that even if they aren’t sustainable are sustainable enough. It’s like I’ve talked about in these pieces before; Gilead breaks everyone. The secret to survival is in knowing when it does and working around it.

If this was all the episode did it would have been impressive enough. Instead, we also got some much needed background on Nick. Waterford’s driver has been an empty space in the show so far and his flashback scenes were as effective as they were disturbing. Nick is a classic entitled western young man. Educated enough to know what he wants. Entitled enough to be angry when he doesn’t get it. He’s radicalized just as effectively as any terrorist because make no mistake, the Sons of Jacob are terrorists. It’s a credit to Nick, the owner of an at least partial moral compass that it doesn’t seem to have fully taken. Or at the very least, that he’s aware of just how morally bankrupt Gilead is.  Whether he wants to, or can, do anything about that remains to be seen.

Verdict: Yet another impressive entry in a now justifiably Emmy-nomination heavy series. It’s intensely disturbing but never once sensational. Waterford may revel in the debauchery of Jezebels but we see it for what it is. A prison for women conditioned to believe that this is all they deserve. A prison as fragile as Gilead itself and just as deserving of destruction. Because in Gilead, everything and everyone breaks. Even Gilead itself. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart